XIAM007

Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Thursday 31 October 2013

China is spying on you through your Kettle - 20 to 30 appliances 'had hidden chips that send out malware to networks -

China is spying on you through your Kettle - 20 to 30 appliances 'had hidden chips that send out malware to networks -



Russian investigators claim to have found household appliances imported from China which contain hidden microchips that pump spam data and malware into wi-fi networks.
Authorities in St Petersburg allegedly discovered 20 to 30 kettles and irons with 'spy microchips that send some data to the foreign server', according to Russian media.
The revelation comes just as the EU launches an investigation into claims that Russia itself bugged gifts to delegates at last month's G20 summit in an attempt to retrieve data from computers and telephones.

This has led to speculation that the chips allegedly found in the home appliances may also have the ability to steal data and send it back to Chinese servers.
The allegations against the Chinese were made in St Petersburg news outlet Rosbalt, which quotes a source from customs broker Panimport, but does not detail what data was being sent or to where.
According to The Register, which translated the article, it would be possible to build a malicious microchip - sometimes referred to as a spambot or spybot - small enough to hide in a kettle.

It also believes there are many readily available transformers which could be used to convert Russia's 220V electricty supply to power the chips without destroying them.
But it casts doubt on the report's claims that the devices were discovered because they were overweight as it is unlikely that the difference of a few grams would have been enough to raise suspicion.
This might only have happened if the appliances were air-freighted, it said, which was probably not the case because they were cheap items.


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GOLDMAN SACHS pays Hillary nearly half a million -- for two speeches? -

GOLDMAN SACHS pays Hillary nearly half a million -- for two speeches? - 



Hillary Clinton spoke at two separate Goldman Sachs events on the evenings of Thursday, October 24 and Tuesday, October 29. As both Politico and the New York Times report, Clinton’s fee is about $200,000 per speech, meaning she likely netted around $400,000 for her paid gigs at Goldman over the course of six days.

Last Thursday, Clinton spoke for the AIMS Alternative Investment Conference hosted by Goldman Sachs, a closed event exclusively for Goldman clients. AIMS is an annual conference that explores the latest strategies and products available to financial advisers. At the event, Clinton offered what one attendee described to me as “prepared remarks followed by questions.”

On Tuesday, Clinton spoke at the Builders and Innovators Summit, devoted to discussing entrepreneurship and how to help innovators expand and grow their businesses. According to Politico, Clinton conducted a question-and-answer session with Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein. Goldman Sachs declined to comment on the subject of her remarks or why Mrs. Clinton in particular was invited to the events.

Keeping close to the investment world, Clinton also made visits to private-equity firms KKR in July and the Carlyle Group in September. At KKR’s annual investor meeting in California, Clinton answered questions from firm co-founder Henry Kravis on the Middle East, Washington, and politics. At Carlyle Group, Clinton made a speech to shareholders moderated by Carlyle founder David Rubenstein.

Clinton’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

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REPORT: Toronto mayor caught on tape smoking crack... -

REPORT: Toronto mayor caught on tape smoking crack... - 



Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair made the stunning announcement Thursday that police have recovered digital video files containing images he says are consistent with "images previously reported in the press." Mayor Rob Ford appears in at least one of those video files, Blair said.
Blair explained that several computer hard drives were seized on June 13, in the course of Project Traveller raids. Investigators began combing through those drives and found evidence of deleted files.
Blair said that on Tuesday, forensics teams were able to recover a deleted file that contained the video.
He said the footage is "consistent with what has been described in the media," but would not detail what activities were depicted in the video.
In May, allegations of a video appearing to show Ford smoking crack cocaine surfaced after reporters from the Toronto Star and the U.S. website Gawker.com reported they were offered to buy copies.
Blair said he had seen the video recovered from the hard drive that appears to show Ford. When asked whether he was shocked by what he saw, Blair responded: "I'm disappointed."
Blair also said that as a result of their investigation, they "have this morning taken into custody a Mr. Sandro Lisi and laid a charge of extortion with respect to the evidence that's been collected." A further news release from police say it is alleged the accused "made extortive efforts to retrieve a recording."
Lisi, a friend of the mayor who was arrested on marijuana trafficking charges earlier this month, is due to appear in court "at a date not yet determined" to face these new charges.
Blair added that evidence is still being reviewed and that further charges could be laid.
Ford has not offered comment to the newest charges, nor has the mayor's brother and longtime supporter Doug Ford.
On Thursday morning, Mayor Ford yelled at a group of reporters as he left his Etobicoke home, telling them to get off his driveway. He pushed away at least one photographer before getting into his Cadillac Escalade and driving away without answering reporters' questions.
Lisi's arrest comes the same day that the Crown released more than 300 pages of a document used in the investigation that led to his earlier arrest on Oct. 1.
That document reveals it was the Gawker.com and Toronto Star reports that sparked the investigation, code-named Project Brazen 2. It says police began an investigation within days and began surveillance on Lisi.
Police documented Lisi exchanging several phone calls with Ford, using four different numbers to reach him. For example, starting from Aug. 7, when police began tracking the phone numbers of calls to and from Lisi's cellphone, until Sept. 19, Ford and Lisi exchanged 349 phone calls.
They also documented him meeting with Ford several times, often in gas stations and abandoned parking lots, sometimes leaving behind packages in white plastic bags or manila envelopes.
In one incident on July 11, police followed Lisi to a west end gas station where Ford had just arrived. While Ford used the station's restroom, Lisi allegedly placed an envelope inside the mayor's Escalade. The two did not speak. The mayor then got back into his vehicle and drove away.
The police surveillance teams also report that Lisi engaged several times in "counter surveillance measures" as he drove, sometimes speeding to evade pursuit.
After police lost track of Lisi several times, they then began to track his movements using Toronto Police Service aircraft to follow him.
None of the allegations in the document have been tested or proven in court.

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Man sets new record driving coast to coast in under 29 hours... - Average speed of 98mph... -

Man sets new record driving coast to coast in under 29 hours... - Average speed of 98mph... - 

Ed Bolian Mercedes

A 27-year-old Lamborghini dealer and two friends from Atlanta have set a new Guinness World Record after piloting a highly-tuned Mercedes CL from the east coast to the west coast of the United States in under 29 hours.

Ed Bolian and his two co-drivers averaged a law-breaking 98mph across the 2,813.7-mile trip in a souped-up Mercedes that boasted spare fuel tanks and an array of gadgets in order to evade the long arm of the law. 

The trio took the classic route from Midtown Manhattan in New York to Redondo Beach in Los Angeles, which was first driven in the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash of the 1970s. 

On board the mischievous Merc was a police scanner, two GPS units and iPhone apps such as Trapster that locates speed cameras and mobile police units, while friends of Bolian travelled the route roughly 150 mile ahead to check for potential obstacles. 

The car was also fitted with two laser jammers and a truck-mounted antenna in order to prevent police cameras from clocking the highly illegal speeds. 

According to Jalopnik, Bolian dreamed of breaking the record since he was a teenager.

When explaining the potential pitfalls of the record attempt, he revealed that he chose the Mercedes CL-Class not only because of its impressive fuel economy, but also for its active suspension, in order to handle the additional fuel tanks. 

"I thought about a Ferrari 612," he said. 

"But gas mileage would've been bad. A Bentley would've been perfect, but you'd want the V8 for gas mileage, and those are still way too expensive." 

Bolian's record time of 28 hours and 50 minutes beats the previous record set by Alex Roy back in 2006 at 31 hours and four minutes – the very man Bolian sought advice from on how to prepare both himself and the car for the trip. 

Bolian said: "Every year, Alex hears about five to seven attempts to break the record. None of the challengers come close."

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http://cars.aol.co.uk/2013/10/31/driver-completes-the-cannonball-run-in-record-breaking-29-hours

Obamacare D.C. health exchange security question: What are your Lotto numbers? -

Obamacare D.C. health exchange security question: What are your Lotto numbers? - 



Problems with web-security questions were one of the key glitches the Obamacare rollout faced early on, both on federal and state-based exchanges. Now that they’re working more smoothly, at least one congressman is poking fun at a question on the D.C.-run exchange in which federal lawmakers and their staffs are expected to enroll.
“Here’s a helpful security question for those using the DC Exchange website,” Rep. Tim Huelskamp, Kansas Republican, tweeted Wednesday with an attached photo.
The screen grab from the D.C. Health Link website showed this question, highlighted in blue: “What are the last four digits of your lotto [sic] numbers?”
So maybe the congressman doesn’t play Lotto, or at least doesn’t use the same numbers when he does. But the question, and others around it, suggested the security questions on Obamacare sites go beyond the usual mother’s-maiden-name fare.
Others ask users to name the host city of their favorite Olympic Games, while another requires at least a little brain power: “What is the first name of your significant other’s eldest sibling?”

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Happy Halloween! - This song has been stuck in my head - now it can get stuck in yours 2 - What Does the Fox Say? -


Cops Forced To Buy Own Uniforms, Ammo In Cash-Strapped Detroit... -

Cops Forced To Buy Own Uniforms, Ammo In Cash-Strapped Detroit... - 



Detroit police on the beat in an insolvent city have resorted to buying their own gear.

That includes uniforms, according to Detroit Police Officers Association President Mark Diaz, who says the first compliment is issued by the Detroit Police Department — but officers are pretty much on their own after that.

“It’s obviously to the world the city of Detroit’s in a fiscal state of emergency, so the funds really aren’t being allocated to the uniforms as they should be,” Diaz said.

Officers, some who make as little as $14 an hour, might spend $1,000 per year out-of-pocket on uniforms, he said, ” … And the stipend that an officer gets on an annual basis is not enough, truly, to keep the officers outfitted properly.”

“The uniform just doesn’t stop with the shirt, the hat and the pants,” said Diaz, “… parts of the uniform such as boots, those aren’t covered; and the true quality boots that last and that can live up to the rigors of patrolling in a city like the city of Detroit — that’s an extra $300 on an annual basis.”

In addition, Diaz said, although cops are given ammunition for weapons qualification, many officers have to buy their own bullets to have enough to stay sharp.

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